Watching the new season of TP and noticing it's connections to multiple David Lynch works has really caused me to wonder: does the new season of TP have any connection to any of Mark Frost's other works? Sadly I have no clue, as my only exposure to his creative output has been TP and the Secret History book from last year.

I've seen nearly everything Lynch has made, so it's relatively easy for me to notice common themes across his body of work: criticism and subversion of the middle class nuclear family (Eraserhead, FWWM), loss of innocence (Blue Velvet, FWWM), nostalgia for 1950's and 60's culture (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, WIld at Heart), the illusory concept of identity (Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive), the complex nature of love (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive), etc. etc. Also, as he is a director, we can spot a lot of stylistic and aesthetic links between his works as well. While I wouldn't dare to claim that I fully understand anything in Lynch's oeuvre, seeing concepts fleshed out in his non-TP works does give me something of a better understanding, or at least a deep appreciation, of Twin Peaks and it's related media.

I can't say the same for Mark Frost's work, primarily because I haven't seen anything he's done outside of Peaks. I want to read his Arthur Conan Doyle books when I get a chance, and I'm going to watch a few of Hill Street Blues eps soon, plus some episodes of Buddy Faro. Is there anyone else out there who is well versed in his books/movies/tv shows that can speak to what concepts and other things are constants in his works? I just think knowing more about him as a creator would heighten my enjoyment of Twin Peaks. Too often his contributions to the show are reduced to simply providing a kind of structure for Lynch's absurdity, but I know enough about Lynch to know he's doing much more than simply being weird, and I suspect that Frost's contributions extend beyond just story structure.

I think there are some echoes of Twin Peaks-ian things in the two Conan-Doyle novels. There is a world wide good vs evil struggle (eventually) and some of the magical aspects reminded me a lot of Twin Peaks. (The second novel reminds me *very much* of Carnivale also). I think Frost's alternative history approach to these novels, where real life people and events are integrated into the story lines really presages The Secret History of Twin Peaks. He has written a lot of historical fiction and non-fiction. (Greatest Game Ever Played, and his WW2 novel The Second Objective, for example).

Buddy Faro (man I wish that was available on DVD!) only really is similar in the sort of retro attitude of some of the characters. It's a lighthearted action/mystery with a Buddy being a very well written and enjoyable character played to the hilt by Dennis Farina.

He co-wrote the movie Storyville, which is set in New Orleans. It has a sort of Twin Peaks feel to it, but without any supernatural elements. The acting and cinematography seemed like it was clearly influenced by David Lynch. I haven't watched it in a long time though.

Another screenplay he wrote that is on-point is The Believers. It was based on a novel, but it was one of the things he did in the two or three years before Twin Peaks.